EPA to investigate contamination at Old Bridge, Sayreville beaches

Alexandra Pais/For The Star-LedgerResidents listen as EPA officials announce they are going to investigate contaminated beaches in Old Bridge and Sayreville.OLD BRIDGE -- Federal and local officials gathered at the Laurence Harbor beachfront today to offer an update on efforts to clean up lead-contaminated areas that were closed along the Raritan Bay in Old Bridge and Sayreville a year ago.

Walter Mugdan, the Environmental Protection Agency’s director of Emergency and Remedial Response Division for the region, said the cleanup would likely cost more than $100 million and take years to complete.

EPA officials led a tour of the site and were joined by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.), Old Bridge councilmembers Patrick Gillespie, Robert Volkert and Lucille Panos, and local environmentalists.

In November 2009, the site was put on the federal Superfund list making it eligible for federal cleanup funds.

Now, Mugdan said, the EPA will begin a full investigation. A community advisory group will also be formed.

“This site will take a lot of money to clean up,” said Mugdan. “We don’t need to wait for a responsible party to step forward … we have the money in hand to do the initial study and come up with a cleanup solution.”

He said hopefully by the end of 2011, the EPA would present engineering options to the public. He surmised the cleanup would involve a combination of removing and capping the contamination.

The investigation will include sampling areas of the beach and the grass in Laurence Harbor Waterfront Park starting April 19. These tests, EPA officials said, would be complete by Memorial Day. The debris, seaweed and garbage that has accumulated in the fenced off areas, which residents have been complaining about, will also be removed.

The contaminated site, which spans 1.3 miles, contains lead slag from blast furnace bottoms, a byproduct of metal smelting, which was used to construct a seawall and a jetty along the southern shore of Raritan Bay in Old Bride and Sayreville.

Alexandra Pais/For The Star-LedgerEPA signs warn of contamination of the beaches in Old Bridge and Sayreville. Last year the EPA said lead was found near Old Bridge’s Laurence Harbor sea wall in concentrations as high as 142,000 parts per million. According to the EPA, lead is considered a hazard when it is equal to or exceeds 1,200 parts per million in children’s play areas.

Local environmentalists blame the contamination on National Lead, which operated in Sayreville from 1935 to 1982.

Bob Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, an environmental organization, criticized the pace of the cleanup, saying little has been done. At the current pace, he said the cleanup would not be complete until 2025.

“It’s not rocket science,” said Spiegel. “You have these lead slags. They’re in the bay and they need to be removed.”

Pallone addressed those who want to use the area.

“The bottom line is that the testing that has been done already clearly shows that there’s a lot of toxic material in the water and in the vicinity. So, the beach can’t be reopened until we do a cleanup.”

Residents angry over slow progress of cleanup at Raritan Bay Superfund site

Residents angry over slow progress of cleanup at Raritan Bay Superfund siteIt’s been a year since the Environmental Protection Agency closed three sites along the Raritan Bay in Old Bridge and Sayreville due to findings of highly toxic levels of lead in the seawall and jetties. In November 2009, the 1.3-mile site was named a Superfund site by the federal government, which means the EPA is directing the cleanup of the site. This month, EPA officials toured the site in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge and announced the start of a new round of testing, but environmental groups and local residents say that’s not enough. One year later, the toxic slag — a byproduct of metal smelting — remains untouched, and local businesses, which depend on boating and fishing in the bay, are hurting. (Video by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger)